FIFA delighted after superb opening day of World Cup

BERLIN, June 10 (Reuters) FIFA and the local German organising committee said today they were delighted with the organisational aspects of the opening day of the World Cup and reported no major problems.

''It was a superb start, it was very successful from an organisational point of view,'' Gerd Graus, spokesman for the local organisers, told reporters.

''The ticket control system worked well, the atmosphere in the stadiums and at the fan parks was fantastic.

''There were around 300,000 fans at the fan park in Berlin -- and that really surprised me. Of course, there were a few small incidents, but overall everything worked well.

''That is no reason to sit back and feel satisfied, but it was a good start.'' He said random security checks on tickets were made at Munich, where the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica was played, and Gelsenkirchen, where Poland faced Ecuador in the second match later in the evening, and there were no problems.

''We are also delighted that of the 66,000 spectators who went to the match in Munich, 40,000 went to the stadium by public transport.

There were no traffic problems and that is very encouraging.'' FIFA spokesman Markus Siegler, echoing Graus's comments, agreed that the opening day went well, adding that there were only a few minor incidents reported.

''There were 40,000 English fans in Frankfurt for today's match between England and Paraguay and apart from a few fans who were drunk, everything went well,'' he said.

Only 20 fans were arrested in Frankfurt for drunken behaviour, and although at times the atmosphere between English fans and Germans became tense, police handled the situation with restraint and there was no major trouble.

REUTERS DH PM1705